Curiosity Killed the Cat
by Darkelven Angel
Summary: Broken hearts and too much ambrosia lead friends down an untravelled path.


Author's Note: This story is loosely based on the current Battlestar Galactica RPG. Many thanks to Candi for allowing me to borrow her character for this little jaunt.

"If you want to come along, hurry up... I'm not waiting." Kara grumbled as she threw a sweater over her arm to hide the bottle of ambrosia that she had kept tucked away in her locker for nearly a year now. She had never intended to drink it... it was the last remnant of a world lost four years ago... four years since the destruction of the colonies... four years since everything they had counted on had been ripped out from underneath them in a single afternoon.

Ironically, for Kara that has also been the beginning of the three most incredible years of her life. Despite the world falling down around her shoulders, she had found happiness where she had least expected it. That happiness had been abruptly ripped from her just a year ago. In a single day she had lost both her best friend of many years, and the man she loved... She absentmindedly ran her finger over the thin gold band she still wore. She had held out hope for months... after all, he had beaten the odds twice before... In fact, the bottle of ambrosia tucked under the sweater had come from the misadventure that had brought them together four years ago. Unfortunately, it did not seem luck was on his side this time.

It had been a devastating blow to the entire fleet. They had received a transmission from the recon patrol. They had had found something... a series of radio transmissions... most of it not recognizable... except for a single word... Earth... they were emanating from what appeared to be a nebula the patrol had encountered. By the time the fleet had arrived at the coordinates several hours later the nebula was gone; the transmissions had ceased, and all that remained of the three craft patrol party was a single tailfin from a Mark II Viper. There was no sign of Lee's Mark VII, or of the raptor Marc had been on. In all, five had been lost that day; and yet only one on board the Galactica truly understood how she felt; both then and now... that alone was the only reason she was willing to share the treasured ambrosia. She slammed the locker and headed towards the hatch.

"Where are we going?" Carrie's voice echoed at her heels.

"Somewhere that I'm not going to be disturbed for at least long enough to be too drunk to frakkin care anymore." Kara snapped back.

"But you have private quarters you never use behind your office..." Carrie started to say before Kara shot her a venomous look.

"And every frakkin idiot on board knows where to find me for every damned whine and gripe... I'm totally off duty for 72 hours... and I plan to make myself scarce. You know as well as I do that the CAG office has a frakkin revolving door on it."

72 hours... Lords that sounded like a long time... She had only been scheduled for 12... but given that she had nearly plowed the nose of her viper into the landing deck, she had been assigned 72 hours stress leave. It was standard procedure and she understood the reason behind it. In the year she had been serving as CAG, she had sent more than one pilot on the same 72 hour vacation... but that didn't mean she had to like it when it was applied to her.

They approached a corridor that led off along the port landing pod. Kara opened a side hatch that lead into a maintenance corridor, and immediately reached for the flashlight she kept clipped to her belt. About fifty feet down the corridor she stopped, scanning the walls and low ceiling with the flashlight.

"There it is..." she muttered, spotting some rungs mounted into the wall; following the rungs up the wall, she found the hatch in the ceiling. She handed the bottle of ambrosia to Carrie and reached up to slide the hatch open. She grabbed the bottle once again and climbed up, motioning for Carrie to follow.

They found themselves in a five foot hexagonal tube that ran the length of the landing pod. There was enough light cast from the small emergency access lights that Kara no longer needed the flashlight. The tube was just small enough that it was impossible to stand up straight, so instead Kara settled for crawling. As they neared the front of the landing pod there was a circular junction.

It was exactly as she was told it would be. It was a little known hideaway on an otherwise crowded ship. Cushions were scattered around, where they had scrounged them up, she didn't know... but it sure beat sitting on the floor. She made herself comfortable and leaned back against the wall, cracking the seal on the bottle and taking a good, long drink of the amber liquid.

"How the frak did you find out about this place?" Carrie asked as she sat down.

"From one of the deckhands... it's a well kept secret." Kara took another drink before handing the bottle to Carrie. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, feeling the warm, numb sensation that was already starting in her fingertips. She could feel the bottle pressed back into her hand and she took another long drink without even opening her eyes.

It didn't take long to lose track of time... it felt rather good not to feel anything for just a little while... to just be numb. Her blissful silence was broken by the sound of a voice ranting on about something. She didn't care what it was saying... all she knew was that it had disturbed her solitude... and given that there was only on other person nearby, it was easy to determine who the voice belonged to.

"Shut up Nightsky... I don't want to hear it." She grumbled.

"Frak, don't go acting all high and mighty... the frakkin world doesn't revolve around you"

Kara smirked... she knew how to push Carrie's buttons... and Carrie knew how to push hers. Either one could start an argument at the drop of a hat... and for them to argue... well that was just a sign that all was normal. She had to admit, she actually looked forward to their bouts of verbal sparring. And it often felt damned good when it came to blows. Neither one ever pressed charges... they both needed the release that it provided. They were equally matched and often exhausted one another before any serious damage was done. Truth be told though, she was too numb to fight... but she couldn't resist...

"Frakkin princess..." Kara muttered, half smirking.

"Right... and I suppose you're perfect, Convict." She had taken the bait... Kara had to fight the smile. It was good to know some things hadn't changed. "But then I forgot... You're the Almighty Starbuck..."

That was the phrase that always pushed Kara over the edge... she wasn't sure why, but it always seemed to set her off... maybe it was because Zak used to call her that whenever they fought... which was damn near as often as she fought with Carrie...

"Shut the frak up... or I'll shut you up." Kara smirked. She had said those words so many times, the reply was ingrained in her head... she could hear it before the words were even spoken.

"I dare you to try, Convict." There was something in the way Carrie had said it... but it sent a shiver down Kara's spine. It wasn't the first time... in fact, those words had a similar effect each time she heard them... and she couldn't really place what that was... All she knew was that had she been sober, those words would have resulted in a well landed right hook. However... sober she was not... and her mind was swimming with thoughts she would never admit to having otherwise... it all boiled down to one word... curiosity... she just hoped that it wouldn't kill the proverbial cat. She decided on an altogether different course of action, as much inspired by the curiosity as it was the fact she couldn't have hit the broad side of a basestar with a right hook at the moment. Before she had time to think about it anymore, she turned to where Carrie was sitting, slipped a hand behind her neck and kissed her full on the lips.

It was a different sensation than she had ever experienced... warm... soft... gentle... she held the kiss as long as she could, savoring the soft lips beneath hers. Until she felt Carrie shift, and pulled back just in time to dodge a poorly thrown punch. Maybe it was the ambrosia, or maybe it was the fact she had been denied physical contact for so long... but she wished that she could have had just one more moment.

Kara fell back against the cushions, a smirk on her face. Well... it had definitely shut Carrie up... She glanced back over at her companion... who had the most bewildered look on her face... it made her look so young... almost innocent in her confusion... Kara couldn't help but smile.

It was a few silent moments later when Carrie turned to look at her. In the dim light it was near impossible to read her expression... Kara simply waited, taking another good drink of the ambrosia. A half smirk came to Carrie's face. "Convict..." she muttered.


End file.
